


peppermint smiles

by niccals



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Abuse, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bullying, Depression, Domestic Violence, Getting Together, Homophobia, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Running Away, Sexual Assault, Slurs, Violence, im sorry i keep changing the title do not mind me, will add more tags as it progresses owo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-05-20 04:13:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19369546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niccals/pseuds/niccals
Summary: Dan Howell, a lonely, bullied boy with a neglectful homelife decides to run away with Phil Lester, a popular boy who has his future right in front of him. Turns out, running away is more dangerous than they thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warnings are included in the tags!! please read if sensitive to them
> 
> i usually write out the whole story before i upload it so i can upload it in parts but i'm trying something new where i don't have the chapters prewritten and i have no idea what imma do with this story so pls PLS bear with me.
> 
> also like peep me projecting my family life onto dan *michael jackson heehee*

Dan knew he couldn’t take this any longer. Not living at home, going to that wretched school, the friends he’d made, absolutely none of it. Somewhere along the line things had gone from bad to worse. It’s as if one bad thing infected another thing and then that infected another; and by the time he was 15 Dan realised that he was ready to leave his life behind.

Dan’s home life was never really ideal. From having his parents neglect and his father angry at his existence, to the times when Dan was a number away from dialling 999 after his father got violent with his mother. The violence stopped, but the neglect didn’t and neither did the memories. While his father was never violent towards him, except for possibly when he was younger as his older cousin recounted though Dan can’t remember it, he certainly was doing almost as much damage verbally as he could physically.

Even at school, the one place you read about in books that is supposed to keep your mind distracted for a period of time, just makes everything that much worse. There were right and proper dickheads roaming the halls, waiting to yell and punch whoever looked the most vulnerable. Then there was the fact that nearly everyone in his school either pretended he didn’t exist, didn’t want to be associated with him or just flat out enjoyed bullying him. Dan couldn’t know where the appeal of kicking a peer in the stomach so hard he vomited came from. To be fair, he didn’t really want to know either.

But then there was Phil. Phil Lester, a boy a few grades up from Dan that seemed to be admired by not only by his teachers, but also but his fellow students. He had incredibly light skin, almost like snow, crystal blue eyes, pitch black hair that was ginger at the roots and an amazing personality. Phil’s the type of boy to fix other people’s friendships and volunteer at homeless shelters. He made all straight A’s, was on the debate team, but at the same time had an abusive home life that no one knew about. Except for Dan.

Dan met Phil when he spotted Dan being pushed around in a circle of boys and decided to interfere. The boys, being three years younger than Phil and being several inches shorter, had almost immediately backed off despite Phil saying only a few words. He was kind to Dan, smiling at him as he offered to walk him to the nurse’s office, which Dan declined every time Phil asked.

From that point on, they just began getting closer and closer. Dan didn’t even notice how close they’d gotten until he looked over and saw Phil sleeping on a palette on the floor beside his bed one Saturday morning. It was one of those, _‘oh right, this is real’_ moments.

Phil was like Dan’s one last hope for humanity. He was everything in a best friend Dan ever wanted, but never had before. He liked the same bands and artists as Dan, enjoyed video games as much as Dan, watched the same shows and films as Dan, he was like some sort of ethereal being that Dan was half convinced was just a figment of his imagination for how perfect he was.

Dan knew Phil would do anything for Dan, and especially if it was something he’d wanted to do for a long time anyway. Runaway. They’d sit together in the corner booth of a local coffee shop just as the sky turned dark, or sometimes outside in a lonely, grass field. There they’d just discuss running away for hours. They made plans, made pros and cons lists, thought about how to evade police, how they could possibly make money, you name it.

Dan had officially decided that running away was the only option left for him after one last shitty day. It was a Monday and he’d happened to wake up feeling that empty hole right through his chest, brain murky and his serotonin obviously not up to par. He figured that whatever was to come at school couldn’t make him feel any worse than he already did, so without a second thought about staying home, he managed to roll out of bed, tug on an oversized hoodie and jeans, and make his way to school.

His school day started out as a teacher yelling at him for being nearly 20 minutes late, which only made him want to curl up in a ball and cry, but he remained stoic. He didn’t even get to have a good cry in the bathroom after first period because this one boy, William, that was a recurring tormentor, had clocked him square in the jaw for bumping into him in the hall. A series of gasps came from around them, followed by chuckles, but Dan ignored them, swiftly walking away and wiping a trail of blood from his mouth.

Even after the most shit start to a day Dan had had in months, it had managed to get worse. His classes went fine, not counting the few boys who decided to shout out names at Dan at random points, but lunch was a whole other level. Dan, despite how often he was pushed and slapped and teased by other kids, was never really one to face extreme beatings. The last time Dan was properly beat up was in the eighth grade when some older kids cornered him, broke two of his fingers and gave him a black eye. The only punishment they faced was suspension for a week and having to be escorted to their means of transportation. Dan never did see them again. 

Dan could call himself naive or flat out stupid for thinking that lunch would blow over easy. He wasn’t eating that day, as his appetite was completely gone and it was just easier to sit in a corner and have some alone time. He was lucky though, because he was sure that the small clique of boys that strutted over to him would’ve poured the tray all over his head.

“Oi, fag, up ‘ere.” One snarled through his teeth. Dan met eyes with him, seeing his shit eating grin before a wave of pain shot through his body and he began to choke, reaching up and grabbing at his throat. The fucker had punched him in the throat. Dan kept wheezing, coughing loudly and painfully, tears slipping from his eyes and face turning a deep red. In the midst of his pain, two of the four boys grabbed him by his arms and pulled him through an exit only a few metres away.

Outside where they brought him was completely secluded, being a little grassy alleyway between two parts of the school. Dan didn’t even fully registered he was being dragged so far until he finally stopped coughing so violently and his vision stopped being blurry. The four boys were just hovering around Dan, who was sitting, with downright evil looks on their faces.

Dan didn’t have long to process much before he was being struck again, this time in the back by one of their trainers. Dan yelped out, not even seconds before someone else began to kick and punch him, which soon the rest joined in on.

For twenty minutes straight, Dan was beaten and berated. He dragged by his hair, strands being ripped out so violently he felt the tickling of blood on his forehead, he was cut by one of the boy’s pocket knives, he was kicked and shoved, punched, slapped, had water poured all over him, had his clothes torn, ecectra. All the while, they yelled vile slurs at him, threatening to strangle him to death instead of for just a few moments, telling him to kill himself and telling him that there was no one that loved him or cared for him. Just the most horrible shit.

The whole time, Dan didn’t even try to fight back. After he realised there was no way in hell he was getting out of this unless a teacher saw or the boys decided that the jig was up, he just let them have at it. At that point he just desperately wanted them to actually kill him, and couldn’t see the purpose in trying to fight them back. The most he did was try to cover himself, curling up, sometimes instinctively screaming out in pain before he had a balled up dirty sock shoved in his mouth.

When the boys finally left Dan decided that, at that point, there really was nothing left that could make his day any worse. He laid there, for god knows how long, until he finally decided that it was safe to get up and go. He limped back into the cafeteria, hood over his head to hide his bloodied and bruised face, grabbing his rucksack from where it was left beside the door, and made a beeline for the nearest bathroom.

Thankfully, no one was in the bathroom, so he was able to clean up his face as much as possible without bother. The amount of crusted blood that came off of his face concerned him, but he convinced himself not to worry too much about it. From what he could tell, through slightly blurred vision, his lip was split in two places, he had a very faint black eye and there was a pretty noticeable bruise forming on his cheek.

After washing his hands, and not even daring to look at the gashes that he knew were strewn across his forearms, Dan headed out of the bathroom. The time on his phone told him it was his last period, so he just decided to head outside and wait by the area where Phil met him after school.

Phil would make this better. Phil could make anything better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo i'm also uploading this fic to wattpad for whatever reason so here's a link in case anyone prefers to read it there instead  
> https://www.wattpad.com/750436984-fl%C3%A2ner-1

Phil wasn’t what Dan was expecting to meet. He’d been waiting for about an hour until class let out, anticipating finally being able to sneak off somewhere with Phil and have a less than shit end to his day.

When Dan spotted Phil walking towards him in the distance the first thing he noticed was how Phil wasn’t smiling, not even when he made eye contact with Dan. Dan dropped his smile as well, his heart dropping and immediately beginning to worry. As Phil came closer Dan could see that something was wrong, as the older of the two had puffy eyes and a paler face than normal.

“Phil?” Dan called out, worried as soon as he was within hearing distance of Phil. Phil offered him a weak smile in response and Dan just furrowed his eyebrows, holding onto Phil’s hands, not caring who saw. “Phil, what’s wrong?” Dan questioned. Phil sniffled and shook his head.

“Come on.” Phil croaked out, walking around to the back of the school where there was an entrance to a patch of woods they sometimes hung out in. Dan followed closely beside him, still concerned and itching to hold Phil’s hand again.

Once they’d entered into the forest Dan immediately took Phil’s hand back into his. The two only walked a bit further into the woods before sitting down in a grassy clearing.

“Phil? What happened?” Dan asked, voice gentle. He scooted closer to Phil, leaning his back against the same tree that Phil was, and sliding his hand across the top of Phils to gently squeeze.

“It’s-” Phil sighed out, coughing to get rid of his wobbly voice. “My parents. Er- Last night mum had to go to A&E for getting in a bar fight with some other lady. Upset my dad, so once we were back home he took it out on me.” Phil choked out, beginning to softly cry again at the end of his sentence.

“Oh, Phil.” Dan wiggled closer to Phil, their legs overlapping. Dan grabbed both of Phil’s hands in his own, gently nudging Phil’s shoulder to get him to look over. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“I think, yeah.” Phil gave a watery smile. Dan frowned. “Just hurts a bit in some places.” Phil laughed sadly, looking down at his lap. Dan sighed.

“Where does it hurt?” He asked. Phil looked up at him, confused.

“Why?” Phil asked.

“Where does it hurt?” Dan asked again.

“My um- my upper arm,” Phil grazed over an area on his upper right arm. “‘n my chest.” He splayed his hand flat across his chest and gently slid it over the clothed area.

Dan hummed. He leaned over Phil, legs on either side of his and began to pull Phil’s blazer off. Phil put a hand on his chest.

“What are you doing?” He asked, face flushed.

“I can make you feel better.” Phil was silent. Dan flushed red in realisation. “Not like- not like that.” He sputtered. Phil giggled and Dan did the same.

Dan continued to untie Phil’s tie, then unbutton his blazer. He set them in a pile beside Phil. Dan looked upon Phil, feeling his heart drop once again. On his upper arm was a deep purple bruise with fingernail markings in it so deep that they looked like cuts from a knife. On his chest was an array of blue and purple, almost black, bruises that made an ugly contrast to his pale skin. Dan wanted to cry. He didn’t want this for Phil. He couldn’t understand how this could’ve happened to a guy like Phil. Who would want to hurt someone so amazing as him?

Phil brought his arm to lay across his chest out of insecurity, sheepishly looking down. Dan was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.

“Phil…” He trailed off. Phil didn’t say anything either.

Dan, without a second thought, gently maneuvered Phil’s arm back to lay by his side. He leaned down, pressing his lips to a grey bruise that had formed right below one of Phil’s collarbones. He heard Phil gasp out from above him, but he didn’t make a move to push Dan away so he went ahead.

Dan pressed more gentle kisses to each bruise that littered Phil’s body, making Phil occasionally hiss out in pain from above him, to which Dan would just softly apologise and continue on. Dan finished up with the gesture a few moments later, sitting up straight again and looking into Phil’s eyes.

“Thank you.” Phil whispered, smiling. Dan smiled back, wrapping his arms around Phil, which Phil reciprocated. Dan pulled away from the hug first, moving to move back into a sitting position beside Phil, handing him the pile of clothes. Phil only got to about the button up before he just let the blazer and tie rest on the ground beside him.

They both laid there, backs against a tree, staring up into a grey sky and just enjoying the general feeling of being where they were. In that grassy patch, together, there was no one there that wanted to hurt them. No one that would judge them, no one to berate Dan for making Phil feel better, no stupid parent to hurt Phil. There was no school, none of Dan’s teachers scolding him for talking too much or for getting a 30 on a test, no dad to yell at him for minor things he really didn’t even have any control over.

Out there, it was just him and Phil. They were safe there. They could just enjoy each other’s presence and do exactly what they wanted without consequence.

“Let’s runaway.” Dan spoke out of the blue. Phil shifted beside him, turning his head to look at Dan.

“For real?” Phil asked. Dan considered for a second.

“Yes.” He responded. Phil was quiet for a second. He looked up at the sky, then back down at Dan.

“Alright,” Phil smiled. “Let’s do it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for sexual assault in this one! proceed with caution if you're sensitive to that

Dan woke up extra early the next morning. He was struggling to stay awake as he took a shower and packed his bag, emptying out the school supplies from his worn down rucksack and instead replacing it with things he needed more. He was sure to not pack too much, trying to keep it light and easy to carry with him, but enough to last him for a decent amount of time.

He double checked over what he’d packed; two sets of clothes, a water bottle, extra socks, a phone charger and a few snacks. He sighed out, once he’d zipped his bag up, staring at it for a second, thinking if there could’ve possibly been anything else he needed. _Right! Money, duh._ He realised, mentally scolding himself.

Dan quietly made his way down the stairs, finding his mother’s purse laid carelessly atop a dresser. He glanced around, making sure no one had woken up before quickly reaching inside, shuffling through until he felt a little leather wallet. He pulled it out, flipping it open, and found a good £30 inside.

Dan repeated the offense with his father’s work rucksack that he found leaned against the sofa. In his wallet was £50. As he was about to close the wallet again, he caught sight of a little blue card. It was his father’s credit card. He considered it for a moment. If he took it he’d have extra money, but he could also be tracked down because of it. He rubbed his forehead, glaring bullets into the card. _Fuck it, we can always run_ , Dan decided as he slipped the card into his own pocket. _Bastard deserves this_ , Dan smirked as he trotted up the stairs.

Dan had put the money and card into his own wallet, slipping it into the front pocket of his schoolbag. He set the bag beside him on his bed, locking his door and sitting alone in silence for a few moments, thinking over what he was about to do.

Dan let out a breath, pulling out his phone to text Phil. _05:30_. He was supposed to meet Phil at a park in ten minutes.

_dan: omw now_

_phil: k i’ll be there in 5_

_dan: what’d u pack?_

_phil: money, clothes, stuff_

_dan: ok cool same_

_dan: brb i’ll see u there_  
_read 05:32_

Dan smiled to himself, sliding his phone into the pocket of his hoodie, throwing his bag over his shoulder, slipping on some beat up converse shoes and quietly heading downstairs. He made sure to tiptoe out, making as little noise as possible despite both of his parents being very heavy sleepers.

The freezing air of the early morning hit him in the face when he opened the door. Really, it would’ve bothered him at any other time, but it felt so refreshing in the moment. He clicked the door shut behind him, sighing out as he smiled up into the dark sky.

Dan grabbed his bike from where it was laid in the grass, wet from dew. He lead it to the sidewalk in front of his house, swinging his leg over it and staring at the house. He would finally be able to escape from the living hell that his life was.

Dan puffed out a breath of cold air, flipping off the house from where he sat on his bike. He shook his head, turning forwards and peddling away quickly, adrenaline fueling his veins.

.

Dan spotted Phil from several metres away upon arriving at the secluded park. He smiled and waved at Phil, who waved back, standing up from where he was previously laid against a tree root. Dan peddled forward some more, getting off of his bike and leaning it against the tree.

“Hey.” Dan greeted.

“Hi.” Phil replied, neither of the two able to withhold a smile. Phil leaned forward to wrap Dan in a hug, which the younger immediately reciprocated, hugging the other tightly. They stayed in one spot, wrapped up in each other’s arms in the middle of this rural park at fuck all in the morning. It felt more like home than either of them had ever experienced.

Dan was the first to pull away, keeping his and Phil’s hands gripped together. He looked up at Phil, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.” Phil breathed out.

“Yeah.” Dan smiled. Phil eventually broke the moment they were having to grab his rucksack and sling it over his back. Phil picked his bike up from where he’d left it in the grass and lifted a leg over, Dan following suit.

They both peddled out of the park in silence. They biked close together in silence before eventually stopping at a petrol station for a short break. By then the sun had risen and was lighting up the sky, easing off the freezing temperatures from before by only a few degrees.

“Where do you reckon we go from here?” Dan asked, reaching in his bag to grab an extra water bottle for Phil and taking a swig of his own.

“I don’t know.” Phil took a sip from the metal bottle. “Google it?” He quirked an eyebrow at Dan.

“We’re so professional.” Dan snickered, clicking his phone on and looking for any nearby places they could stay. “There’s a two star motel fifteen minutes from here.” Dan pursed his lips.

“Reviews?” Phil asked. Dan paused for a second, scrolling through something on his phone.

“Yuck— roaches.” Dan grimaced. Phil’s face twisted in disgust. It was silent for a moment as both contemplated their options.

“We could stay with a friend?” Phil suggested.

“Who do you know that wouldn’t rat us out?” Dan questioned.

“Er… right.” Phil frowned. “I’m not sure then.” They both fell into a silence again, thinking for more options.

“Let’s go to London.” Dan suddenly came out with.

“London?” Phil asked, surprised.

“Yeah, more places to stay and it’s a lot easier to get around. Plus, way easier to hide.” Dan explained more. Phil seemed contemplative still.

“Dan, London is twenty hours away.” Phil said.

“Yeah, if we bike, dingus. All we’ve got to do is get to the nearest train station and boom, we’ll be there before 10.” Dan said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Phil broke out into a smile, making Dan smile as well.

“Okay then.” Phil nodded, giving a thumbs up. Dan gave an awkward thumbs up back. “Cool beans.” Dan cocked his head, giggling and turning away from Phil, beginning to peddle away.

“Come on!” Dan called behind him as Phil fumbled to put his water bottle securely inside of his bag and catch up to the other boy.

.

“Wanna stop here?” Dan asked, looking back at Phil and nodding towards a Tesco to their right.

“Sure.” Phil puffed out, following Dan into the parking lot. They both got off of their bikes, leaning on a wall, faces flushed red and damp with cold sweat.

“There’s no bike rack.” Dan stated blankly.

“It’s fine, don’t seem to see too many deviants on the prowl for your very manly bike.” Phil giggled.

“Hey! Flower stickers are very manly, I’ll have you know.” Dan stuck his tongue out.

“Uh huh, right.” Phil smiled, crossing his arms.

“Piss off.” Dan rolled his eyes and giggled. “Let’s just go in and pray that no rocking old woman decides to go for a ride on our bikes.” Phil nodded and smirked.

They were greeted by an older looking worker with greasy looking auburn hair and beard rashes. The man’s vibe made Dan uneasy somehow but he waved back anyways, not wanting to seem rude. He followed blindly behind Phil, skin crawling as he practically felt the man’s eyes boring into his back.

Once they were quite a ways away from the worker Dan did a little half jog to walk beside Phil. Phil was preoccupied by looking over the varieties of cereal stacked up on the shelves.

“Did you see that guy back there?” Dan asked. Phil paused his searching, looking at Dan and shaking his head. “The ginger dude. Looked 30 or 40, enough oil on him to cook enough bacon for an entire country.” Phil gasped, elbowing Dan in his side.

“Dan! Don’t be rude.” Phil scolded. Dan hunched his shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

“Doesn’t matter, he was fucking creepy.” Dan said anyways. Phil shook his head and reached up to pull down a box of Crunchy Nut. “Could do with a nice shower.” Dan mumbled. Phil burst out laughing, nearly dropping the box of cereal his was holding and startling Dan. “What?”

“You are such a twat.” Phil giggled, nudging Dan’s shoulder. Dan rolled his eyes.

“Can we get Shreddies instead?” Dan asked, ignoring the previous events.

“Are you paying?” Phil asked. Dan just stared back at Phil. “I’m joking.” Phil turned around to swap out his Crunchy Nut with a box of Shreddies. “We’re both paying.” Phil chuckled.

“Now who’s a twat?” Dan smacked his arm lightly, making Phil laugh.

They continued on their journey through the store, trying to make it as quick as possible as Dan was getting paranoid about having left their bikes just sitting outside. Dan was getting noticeably antsy as time dragged on, and they’d only picked up the box of Shreddies and two energy drinks.

“Can I go check on the bikes now?” Dan asked for the fifth time since they arrived. Phil groaned out.

“Right, if you ask that one more time I’m going to strangle you.” Phil dramatically started dragging his legs.

“ _Phil_ , what if they’re gone?” Dan asked. Phil sighed out.

“Okay, but hurry up, please. And don’t wander off somewhere either.” Phil finally agreed.

“Okay, thanks dad. Be back soon.” Dan blew Phil a kiss, walking away backwards until he turned around and sprinted outside of the store.

.

Dan froze in his tracks as soon as he exited the building. The creepy worker from before was placing a chain onto his and Phil’s bikes.

“E-excuse me, sir?” Dan asked timidly, causing the man to turn around and look over Dan for a moment. Dan could notice more about him now that they were closer. It wasn’t like the guy got any better; Dan could see the gross sheet of oil coating his wispy hair, see how rough his skin looked up close, red patches from his unkempt beard tattering his face, dandruff resting on his face from where it’d fallen out of his hair and weirdly bushy eyebrows. The man was silent for too long, making the air between the two uncomfortable and making Dan feel a bit threatened by the man’s several inch height advantage over him.

“Yes?” He croaked out, voice deep and sounding a bit like he had a rock stuck at the base.

“Those are our bikes.” Dan stated, tone flat and slightly awkward.

“We don’t allow bikes here.” The guy stated, standing up straighter, only adding on an extra inch to his height, making Dan feel like he was purposefully threatening him.

“What? We haven’t had trouble at any other Tesco.” Dan cocked his head.

“Must just be lazy workers at every other place then.” The guy gave a sly smile.

“Can we just get our bikes back? We’ll just pay and leave now.” Dan pleaded. God, now would be a really bad time to get in trouble with the security of a bloody _Tesco_.

“Sure, the fine is £40.” He smugly smiled. Dan wanted to punch him right in his nasty, yellow teeth. That’s a good half of the cash he had, there’s no way he was giving it to this overbearing bellend. Not over his dead body.

“I don’t have that much.” Dan lied, quirking his head in a subconscious attempt to earn sympathy from the guy.

“Well,” The man smirked again. Something about it made Dan feel queasy. “I’ll let you off scotch free if I can get a favour.” Dan could only think of the worst possible scenario. _Oh god, did he want him to hide a body?_ Dan nervously smiled and nodded, trying his best not to show how uncomfortable he was.

“Yes sir?” Dan remained polite, even though he was getting close to just clocking the guy and making a run for it.

“You let me take a few… pictures. Hm?” Dan’s blood ran cold.

“Excuse me?” Dan coughed.

“If you want the bikes back without a fine you’ll let me take some naked photos of you. I won’t even touch you, son. How about it?”

Dan almost choked on his own spit. His heart rate sped up and he silently prayed to the universe that Phil would walk out right now and break this dude’s jaw.

“I’m 15.” Dan stated, hoping that would make this guy back off.

“I know, honey, you look it.” The man darkly chuckled. Dan was frozen where he stood, on the side of a Tesco that wasn’t visible enough for someone to help him unless he screamed.

“Uh- no. I-I can’t do that.” Dan stuttered. He was beginning to feel trapped. _Was this guy gonna rape him?_

“Then let me see the money.” The guy’s face went stone cold.

“I told you, I-I don’t have that m-much.” Dan’s heart was now hammering against his chest and his head was swimming with panic.

“Then there’s only one option left for you, sweetheart.” The guy smirked but his tone was evil. Dan couldn’t speak, he felt unable to run away, as if the guy would shoot him if he tried.

Dan watched in slow motion as the creep stepped forward, pressing Dan against the wall and breathing hot on his face. Dan tried to push the guy away, shaky hands weak against the man’s superior build. The guy pushed back with a harsher force, pinning Dan by his neck against the wall, lightly pressing on a vein in Dan’s neck to make him feel slightly lightheaded and cold.

“Don’t—” Dan choked out, scrunching his face up and moving to cross one of his legs over the other in some valiant attempt to cover the place he knew this bastard was going for. The man just pressed tighter against his throat, making Dan’s vision double, face going into a warm-cold feeling, limbs feeling disconnected from his body.

Dan squeaked out a cry as he felt the man touch his gross hands to the crotch of his jeans. Dan squirmed more, crossing his legs with more determination trying to block the hand from touching him.

“Stop-” Dan was cut off by the man pressing harder to his throat, only releasing the pressure after a few moments to allow Dan to breathe again, but not releasing enough to allow Dan to regain the feeling in his limbs. By now his body felt like it was filled with static, panic being the only thing keeping him from passing out, sobs wracking through his body which sounded more like demonic gurgles.

The man shoved the hand not choking out Dan down the boy’s pants. Dan all but screamed, numb hands scrabbling to weakly grip onto the man’s arms, digging his nails into his arm as hard as he could manage, trying to pry the hand off of him. Dan felt so dirty and violated, kicking his legs out and thrashing his body around to get the hand away from his area. The grip around his throat only tightened, making his muscles spasm and airflow be cut off completely.

Dan almost lost hope right then and there. He was going to die, this man was going to rape and kill him and it’s all because he didn’t want to wait to check if someone had stolen his and Phil’s bicycles. He couldn’t breathe except for tiny gasps of air the man allowed every few seconds, his muscles were rigid and his vision was foggy and blurred, a ringing beginning to pierce through his head.

He didn’t even notice when he’d been let go, all he knew was that there was nothing touching his crotch anymore. It took a moment for his senses to come back to him, and his vision to clear up enough to see that the man was no longer holding him up against the wall. In fact, he wasn’t even stood up, he was sat on the concrete ground with the man unmoving on the ground a few metres from him.

Dan still felt as if he was in a haze, vision still a little blurring, and the ringing in his ears still loud, as well as his limbs still trying to regain their feeling. As soon as he came to enough he realised that the man hadn’t just fallen out of the blue. No, there was blood pooling under the area where his cheek met the ground. He got knocked out.

Dan recognised someone else standing near him, immediately tensing up. He blinked up, only to meet eyes with familiar ones. _Phil._

“Phil…” Dan weakly smiled, Phil squatted down to look at Dan in the eyes.

“Hi, Dan.” Phil smiled sympathetically back at him. “Are you okay?” Phil asked, reaching out to brush his hand over Dan’s cheek.

“Yeah. Feel a bit wobbly though.” Dan nodded.

“Can you stand?” Phil asked. Dan nodded and began to push himself up, realising that his pants and trousers were bunched halfway down his thighs. He immediately turned bright red, reaching to pull them up to have his knees buckle underneath him. Phil caught him before he fell flat on his ass, and assisted him back into a standing position as well as helping him get his trousers back up.

Phil held Dan from under his arms, helping him to stand up. He let Dan stand for a few moments, leaning against the wall as to regain feeling in his legs that’d fallen asleep. Once they were sure Dan was able to stand they both got a sudden look of panic over their faces.

“We need to go.” Phil stated suddenly, looking over at the man lying face down on the ground, blood staining the concrete. Dan didn’t even get a chance to respond before Phil was grabbing onto his wrist, dragging him away from the scene, both of them breaking into sprint as they fled.

**Author's Note:**

> ik i haven't said anything about it on my ao3 as um,, i'm very infrequent when writing fics but anyways i love dan!! i'm so proud of him and i'm still in awe of that video two weeks later. easily the best video i've ever seen. so well articulated and put together. the vulnerability he expressed in that video is beyond brave. he really did that. he really fkn did (':


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